Electric alarm system



2 M e h S F .ru e e h 5 M E M NY E LDMw. U BM .A PO M G 0 E L E (No Model.)

Patented Oct. 17, 1893.

3 a e h S w e e h S 5 N E L U B E G a d 0 M 0 w ELECTRIC ALARM SYSTEM.

Patented Oct. 17, 18931\ mswa (N0 Modal.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4. G. F. BULEN.

ELECTRIC ALARM SYSTEM.

No. 506,841. Patented Oct. 17,1893.

(N0 fiodel.) v 5 Sheets-Sheet 5. G. P. BULEN.

ELECTRIC ALARM SYSTEM.

Patented Oct. 17,1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE F. BULEN, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY.

ELECTRIC ALARM SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 506,841, dated October 1'7, 1893.

Application filed July 5,1893. Serial No. 479,556- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. BULEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bayonne, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Alarm Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in electric alarm systems, and is particularly applicable to buildings provided with an automatic fire protection system, relying upon a constant water supply in the building to extinguish incipient fires therein, and which would, of course, be inoperative were such supply cut off.

The object of my invention is to providea simple and efficient system, which, upon a simple grounding of a wire will alarm the protected building and indicate the fact that trouble has occurred, ora simple breaking of a wire will alarm the protected building, indicate the fact that trouble has occurred, and the floor on which the same is located; and upon a break and a ground, will send an alarm to the central office, as well as sounda local alarm andindicate the break and ground and the location thereof.

To these ends, therefore, my said invention consists in the system of wires and batteries, the special apparatus and switches, and the means for automatically breaking and grounding a circuit upon shutting oif the water supply, and for automatically grounding a circuit upon tampering with the valves, all as hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1, is a diagrammatic view, showing the connections and the system of wiring. Fig. 2,isa front elevation of a case of instruments located in the protected building. Fig. 3, is an isometric per-' spective view of an automatic circuit controlling device, hereinafter designated as a trip. Figs. 4, 5, and 6, are respectively sectional, end and top plan views of the same. Fig. 7,

is a front elevation of one form of apparatus for mechanically producing a break and a ground, upon turning off the water supply, and a ground upon tampering with the valve,

and Fig. '8, is a side elevation thereof, with the cover or cap therefor, the removal of which mechanically produces a ground, in section. Fig. 9, is a front elevation of a floor annunciator. Fig. 10, is a side elevation thereof, partly in section, showing the means for completing a circuit upon the dropping of the shutter. Fig. 11, is adetail of the central office transmitter, and Fig. 12 is an enlarged perspective View of the trip or circuit controlling device shown in plan in Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, I will first describe the form of apparatus I have shown for automatically producing a break and a ground, upon shutting ofi the water supply, and for producing a ground upon tampering with a valve. a, is the valve stem, provided with a projecting pin a, working in a vertical .slot 1), of an insulated base 12, secured to the valve casing. c, is a spring stiip curved to lie in the pathway of pin a, and is connected through c, with the main floor circuit, as shown in Fig. 1. When the valve is fully open, as shown, the strip 0, is in contact with strip (:1, which is also in connection with the main floor circuit through d. To the base I), is secured the curved spring strip e, provided with a pin or projection e, and connected to ground through 6 Normally, stripe, is held away from, and out of contact with, strip 6, by the cap f, which presses upon the pin e, when in position, as shown in Fig.8. Now, should the valve be turned to shut off the water supply, the pin a, (Fig. 7,) will come in contact with the spring 0, thereby grounding the circuit through the valve and pipe, and if said valve is still further turned, pin a, will move spring 0, out of contact with d, thereby breaking the main floor circuit, and by forcing said spring 0,

into contact with pin 6', a second ground is made, rendering the change of the current from themain floor circuit to ground doubly sure. Should any attempt be made to tamper with the valve, and remove the capf, the pressure on the pin e, would be released, and strip 6, would immediately come in contact with strip a, producing a ground, but not a break in the circuit.

The automatic circuit controlling device. 1 which I have designated as a trip, and which works as a triangular or three-contact switch,

I have shown in two forms, that illustrated in Figs. 1, and 12 showing the operation of the instrument, while that shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, illustrates the form I prefer to use in practice.

In Figs. 1, and 12 g, is a non-conducting sliding bar provided with the cross strips 71, of conducting material, normally held against the tension of the spring g, by engagement with the armature of the trip magnet. Normally, the fixed cross conductors h, which are fixed to the sliding bar rest upon the contact pieces 2, and 7c, on the one side of the fixed apparatus, and on the contact pieces 2", Z, m, and n, on the other side thereof, as shown. hen the apparatus is released and is drawn back by the spring g, the conductors h, are slid out of contact with points 1,7, and k, on one side, and points m, and n, on the other, and make contact between points 1', 1' Z, and Z by the teats or opposite lugs h which act as bridges and when the trip is sprung rest partly on one contact, and partly on the other. As shown in the other figures referred to, the sliding bar g, is replaced by a cylinder g, of insulating material, mounted and free to turn in standards 0. Passing through said cylinder is a series of conducting pins 71, and the said cylinder having a tendency to revolve by reason of the spring g, (Fig. 5,) is normally prevented therefrom by reason of the engagement of arm g with a detent 9 on the armature of the trip magnet. To the standards 0, and immediately below the cylinder g, is arranged a block of insulating material 19, having secured thereto, a number of spring strips, normally in contact with the conduct ing pins 72, and therefore, equivalent to the contact points i, j, k, and i, Z, m, and 71, referred to in describing Fig. 1. On the outside of block 1), and at one side thereof, are arranged a number of contact points 71 Fig. 4, from which wires lead through the center of said block, and these points are equivalent to the contacts 1' and Z, of Fig. 1, as the pins normally hold the strips 2'', out of contact with the same, and when the trip is sprung and the cylinder g, permitted to rotate, bring i, and 2' in contact, and disconnect 2'.

The floor annnnciators illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, are normally on a closed circuit, and when the circuit is broken, and the shutter of the annunciator falls,a connection is made through the dropped shutter with another circuit, as hereinafter explained, andI accomplish this result by providing the lower part of shutter q, with a cam-shaped extension g, which, as the shutter falls, presses upon the plate 1', forcing it backward, to contact points 8, thus completing the circuit.

The main floor circuit is a closed circuit, and passes from the battery 1, through wire 2, which is connected through 'point 0, with each of the valves A, B, and O, of the building, and the current normally flows through wire 2, strips 0, and (Z, and point d, which is connected by a separate wire 3, 4, and 5, from each of the valves and passing through testing switches, if desired, to the fioor annunciator relays 6, 7, and 8, through the same, and back by wire 9, to battery 1.

Upon the simple breaking or cutting of a wire, (for instance, let us assume that wire 3, leading from valve A, of the first floor of the building, has been cut or broken,) the operation would be as follows: The current would flow from battery 1, through wire 2, through contact points a, d, in valve A,as described, and to wire 3, but on account of the break therein, could not follow the balance of the course described. This would immediately cut ofi the current from floor annunciator relay 6, whose armature would be retracted by its spring, and its shutter q, would fall, bringing in contact plate '0', and points .9. Of course, the current from battery 1, would still pass through valves B, and O, as de scribed, and their relays would still be energized; thus the falling of the shutter of relay 6, indicates the floor upon which the break has occurred, and the operation of sounding a local alarm is as follows: The current from battery 10, now flows through wire 11, through contact points 1', and s, of the floor annunciator 6, through wire 12, to one of the contact points i, of the trip, through the conducting pin 72, to point 2', along wire 13, to contact 7:, back through the trip by one of its conducting pins h, to point n,tl'1rongh wire 14, to trip magnet 15, through the same, and back to battery 10, by Wire 16. As magnet 15, is thus energized, its armature is attracted and the trip or switch is sprung. As soon as this occurs, of course, battery 10, is cut out, as conducting pins h, are moved out of contact with 2", j, k, m, and n. The current from battery I, then flows through wires 17 and 18, to the unattracted armature 19, of ground relay 20, and through this armature and wire 21, to contact Z, of the trip, which, by the springing of said trip has been brought in contact with point Z; thence through wire 22, to the vibrator 23, ringing the same and sounding the local alarm, thence through wire 2%, battery cut out 25, wire 26, through battery cut out relay 27, and wire 28, back to battery 1. By ener' gizing battery cut out relay 27, and attracting its armature, the clock-work mechanism of said out out is started in motion, and the disk 25 revolves until the spring contact 26, of wire 26, rests upon the insulated point shown, and the projection 25, of said disk is in connection with contact 29, of the trouble annunciator relay. The current then, after leaving vibrator 23, passes through wire 24, disk 25, 25, wire 29, to annunciator 30, through the same and through wire 31, to wire 28, and back to battery 1. The circuitthrough relay 30, is such that connection is made through the shutter thereof, in a well-known manner, and when the armature of said relay is attracted, and the shutterdropped, the circuit is broken, and battery 1, is out out. It will thus be seen that on a simple break, first 6, 7, and 8, energized,and their armatures at tracted, thereby holding the shutters closed; but that evidence may begiven of said grounding, and the trouble removed, I cause a local alarm to be sounded, and the shutter of the trouble annunciator to be dropped, in the following manner: Let us assume that wire 9 has been grounded; the current then flows from one pole of battery 1, along wire 9, to ground; in from ground at G, through ground relay 20, energizing the same, and causing it to attract its armature 19, thence along wire 20to, half the strength of battery 1. The full force of battery 1, now passes along wire 17, through wire 18, attracted armature 19, wire 32, to wire 33, thence through contactm,

through one of the conducting pins h, of the trip, to contact j, through wire 34, to vibrator 23, from which point the operation already described with reference to a break is followed, and the shutter of annunciator 30 again drops, showing that trouble has occurred. In this case, however, it will be observed that the trip has not been sprung, nor the location of the ground indicated. It will be understood that a ground will be manually produced, and a local alarm sounded upon tampering with a valve; that is upon removing cap f, and relieving the pressure upon spring 6, bringing same in contact with c, and grounding the current.

Should a valve be turned to shut of the water supply, a break and a ground would immediately occur, as before explained, namelybybringing the pin a, Fig. 7, in contact with spring 0, and bringing the lower end of said spring in contact with projection e, on strip e, which is connected through wire 35 to ground. When a break and a ground occur, as described, the break immediately removes the current from the appropriate floor annunciator relay, which drops its shutters q, and makes contact through 0" and s, in the manner already explained, while the grounding of the circuit excites the ground relay 20, which thereupon attracts its armature 19. The current will now flow from battery 10, through wire 11, through contacts '1- and s, of the floor annunciator, to one of contact points 1', through one of conducting pins h, of the trip, to wire 13, contact h, through another of conducting points h, of trip, to contact 11. through wire 14, trip 15 and wire 16, back to battery 10. As soon as magnet 15, is energized, as described, the trip is sprung and the magnet cut out of circuit. The current now flows, as before, from battery 10, through wire 11, contacts r and s, to one of contact points ql',thence through connection made by the trip to contact 2' through wires 32 and 33, to the attracted armature 19, of ground relay 20, thence through Wires 18 and 17, to the central office transmitter switch 36, which normally rests on the contact 37; thence along wire 38, to the strips 39 and 40, (normally in contact,) of the central office transmitter, thence through magnet 41, and back to battery 10, exciting magnet 41 attracting its armature and thereby starting a train of clockwork gearing, which serves to bring points 42 and 43 of the transmitter in contact, and separate points 39 and 40. As soon as these acts have been accomplished, the current, as before, passes along wire 17, to switch 36, thence through wire 44, through strips 43 and 42, thence through wire 45, to battery cut out magnet 46, through wire 47 to the battery cut out 48, thence through wire 49, to the gong 50, ringing the same and sounding the local alarm, thence through wire 51, to wire 16, and back to battery 10. As soon as battery cut out 48 runs down, (and thiscut out operates in the manner described with reference to cut out 25,) the contact thereof with wire 47 is broken, and a new contact is made through Wire 52, with the valve alarm annunciator relay 53, which is connected so that the current passes firstthrough theshutter, normallyheldin place by the unattracted armature, as already described with reference to annunciator 30, and as soon as said armature is attracted, the shutter falls, and breaks the connection, cutting out the battery, and preventing loss and waste of energy. It will thus be seen that upon abreak followed by a ground, the appropriate floor annunciator is dropped, an alarm is sent in to the central otiice, a local alarm sounded, the fact that a valve has been tampered with indicated in the local oflice, and the batteries cut out of circuit.

I have not particularly described the central oflice transmitter, as any instrument may be used for the purpose which accomplishes the ends described. I will, however, say that the transmitter here shown consists in a train of clock-work gearing, shown in Fig. 2, normally prevented from rotation by a lever t, secured to the armature of magnet 41. As soon as this magnet is excited, and the armature and lever are released, the gearing revolves, bringing the strip u, in contact with teeth it, upon a wheel a thereby sounding as many strokes upon the gong in the central office as there are teeth in the wheel. As the mechanism runs down. the insulated cam 12, breaks the connection between strips 39 and 40, and makes the connection through strips 42 and 43.

mounting strips 40, and 42 on one side of an insulated piece, as shown in Fig. 11, and strips 39 and 43 upon the opposite side thereof. Strip 39 is shorter than strip 43, and is bent to normally be in contact with strip 40. As cam 11 revolves, it presses 43 and 42 together,

I accomplish this end by but passes over the top of 29 and bends 40, backward, until the contact with 39 is broken. Norhave I particularly described the battery cut outs 25 and 48, as these also consist of trains of clock-Work gearing normally prevented from rotating by the unattracted armatures of their respective magnets, and the operation and arrangement of said cut outs will be readily understood upon reference to the preceding description, in connection with Fig. 2 of the drawings.

I do not desire to limit myself to the means I have shown and described, for manually producing a break and a ground upon shutting off the water supply or tampering with a valve or valves, as obviously many changes and modifications may be made therein,without departing from the principle and scope of my invention. Neither do I desire to limit myself to the use of the said invention in connection solely with an automatic sprinkling or fire extinguishing system, as said in vention is obviously capable of other uses, for example in connection with gas valves or cooks, &c.

hat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an electric alarm system, a local circuit passing through the valves of a protected building, and means, substantially as described, for automatically indicating to said building,a ground in said circuit.

2. In an electric alarm system, a main line extending from the central office, a local circuit through the valves of the protected building, and means, substantially as decribed, upon a break and a ground of said local circuit, for automatically sending an alarm to the central office, sounding a local alarm, and indicating the location of such break and ground.

3. In anelectric alarm system, a main line extending from the central oftice, a local circuit through the valves of a protected building, means substantially as described, for automatically sending upon a break and a ground of said local circuit, an alarm to the central office, indicating such break and ground, to the protected building, and means, substantially as described for manually producing a break and a ground, in said protected building, for the purposes set forth.

4:. In an electric alarm system, a normally closed circuit havingincludedin it the valves of a protected building, and one or more locality annunciators, in combination with a battery, a ground relay,an automatic circuit controlling device, and alarm devices, substantially as specified.

5. In an electric alarm system, a normally closed circuit having included in it the valves of a protected building, and one or more 10- cality annunciators, in combination with a battery, a ground relay, an automatic circuit controlling device, alarm devices, and battery cut-out, substantially as specified.

6. In an electric alarm system, a normally closed circuit, including the valves of a protected building, and locality annunciators, and adapted upon a break in said circuit, to drop the shutter of the appropriate annunciator, in combination with a second circuit, established through said dropped shutter, includin g, and adapted to actuate, an automatic circuit controlling device, and a third circuit through the actuated circuit controller, and including alarm devices, substantially as described.

7. In an electric alarm system, a normally closed circuit including the valves of a protected building and locality annunciators, in combination with a second circuit including aground relay, and alarm devices, and adapted upon a ground of the first circuit to operate said alarm devices, substantially as described.

8. In an electric alarm system, a normally closed circuit including the valves of a protected building in combination with a second circuit including a ground relay, and alarm devices, and adapted upon a ground of the first circuit to operate said alarm devices, and means for manually producing such ground, substantially as described.

9. In an electric alarm system, a normally closed local circuit including the valves of a protected building, and locality annunciators and adapted upon a break in said circuit to drop the shutter of the appropriate annunciator, in combination with a second circuit established through said dropped shutter, including and adapted to actuate an automatic circuit controlling device; a third circuit through the actuated circuit controller, including a ground relay, a central ofiice transmitter, and local alarm devices, and adapted to actuate the two latter, and a line circuitfrom said transmitter to the central office of the protective system, substantially as described.

10. An automatic circuit controlling device, comprising three sets of contact points, two of said sets being located on one side, and one on the other side of a movable portion; a movable portion provided with cross-conductors normally connecting the latter set with one of the former, and adapted, when moved, to break said connection and establish a connection between the two sets located upon the same side, in combination with means for retaining said movable portion in its normal position and moving same to its actuated position, substantially as described.

11. In an electric alarm system, (1) a normally closed local circuit, including the valves of the protected building and locality annunciators, in combination with (2) a normally open local circuit, adapted to be closed upon a break and a ground of the first circuit, and controlling, and adapted to complete (3) a normally open local circuit including a transmitter adapted to send intermittent impulses to a line circuit when the controlling circuit is closed, and (4) a line circuit from said trans- IIO mitter to the central ofiice,.substantially as described.

12. An automatic circuit controlling device for electric alarm systems, comprising a ro- 5 tatable portion provided with cross conductors, a fixed portion having spring contacts on each side normally connected through said cross conductors, and a series of fixed contacts adapted to be brought into electric con- 10 nection with the spring contacts on one side upon the turning of said rotatable portion, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 28th day of June, A. D. 1893.

GEORGE F. BULEN.

Witnesses:

CHARLES D. COLLINS, FELIX MoGLoIN. 

